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NaBloPoMo

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3 Weeks Less a Day

My day started out well, but it disintegrated into an ugly mess of grouchiness roughly 5 hours into my work day. I was grouchy. My co-workers were grouchy. The customers were grouchy. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I couldn’t wait to have my cup of coffee, and I definitely couldn’t wait to get to my training session, because I know that will almost always lighten my mood. The only time the gym doesn’t better my mood is when my training session doesn’t go quite as planned, but that tends to be deadlift days. Today was not a deadlift day! Even before I got to begin lifting heavy things, I got to spend a few minutes chatting with three of the cutest little girls, and that is something else that is guaranteed to put a smile on my face. How could it not!

With my competition a day short of three weeks away, I don’t have very many heavy training sessions left. Thankfully today was a good one!

1a. squats

warm-ups: 95 x 5, 115 x 5, 135 x 3, 155 x 3, 175 x 2 all beltless

main event: 195 x 2, 200 x 2, 200 x 2 all with belt

and a back-down set of 4 @ 185 with belt

The warm-ups all felt easy, fast and solid. I was also pretty pleased with the working sets. The back-down set started out a little rough, but each rep got a little easier. I likely could have done more, but Michael shut it down.

And here is a perfect example of how my brain sometimes thinks too much! When Michael told me to do 2 reps @ 200 pounds, fear took a little nibble on my self-confidence. I was reasonably confident that I could do it. I was determined enough to go out and get it done, but there was just a wee bit of doubt that I was capable enough. It’s not like I was quaking with fear or paralyzed by doubt; I wasn’t. The fear was just a sliver, a slender piece of shrapnel that could be ignored for a while but would eventually need to be dealt with. I knew I could squat 200 pounds, because I’ve done it before; however, I thought that doing 2 consecutive reps at that weight would be a challenge of unknown qualities. Oh silly, silly me! As I sit here looking back at my training journal, I discovered that I had already squatted 200 pounds for 2 reps once before! On March 6 I squatted 200 pounds for 2 reps and that was on a day where I felt absolutely horrid with dizziness and headache!

1b. bench press

warm-ups: 45 x 8, 65 x 5, 80 x 5, 95 x 2

main event: 105 x 3, 105 x 3, 105 x 3, 105 x 3

The first working set was…a little rough. That is so predictably me! First reps, first sets…I’m just not always firing smoothly on all cylinders for those. Unfortunately, powerlifting is all about first reps!

2. dumbbell press lying flat

25 pounds x ? I wasn’t counting…had to focus too hard to keep both arms pressing at the same time and with proper form.

3a. pull downs with a wider grip

70 pounds x 15, 80 pounds x 15

b. face pulls with orange band x 12, x 10

c. an interesting walk out kind of push-up thing x 3, x 3

d. dumbbell curls

20 pounds x ? , 15 pounds x ?

Apparently I cannot count and focus on proper form very well. Can I say that I did at least 8 reps per arm? I had to have done at least that many!